Sunday April 16, 2017

Explosive incidents spurred by the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices have prompted the Navy to suspend these items from their ships. A lot of sailors have reportedly suffered serious injuries from these devices, which include first- and second-degree burns, and even facial disfigurement. Some have had e-cigarettes blow up in their mouths.

The Navy calls the ban a "suspension" while officials review safety concerns. It comes after the Naval Safety Center sounded the alarm in August about a sharp rise in injuries to sailors from exploding lithium ion batteries. The Safety Center recommended the ban in an Aug. 11, 2016 memo. Between October 2015 and the present, the Safety Center has logged 31 incidents of sailors being injured by exploding batteries, some seriously, according to the Navy's statistics. Many of those incidents occurred on Navy ships and at least two required the use of shipboard firefighting equipment to extinguish fires. Many occurred while the e-cigarette was in a sailor’s pocket, resulting in first- and second-degree burns.